Democrats happy with Kerry’s new anti-war view

A week into Sen. John Kerry’s newly minted message of opposition to the war in Iraq, Democrats say they think he has settled on the winning argument, but, so far, the polls don’t show the Democratic presidential nominee gaining any ground on President Bush on the issue.

Mr. Kerry settled on the new strategy several weeks ago and launched it with a speech at New York University on Sept. 20, in which he said he no longer thinks the war in Iraq was justified, but emphasized that U.S. troops must remain committed in order to prevent chaos in Iraq.

Mr. Kerry’s sharpened criticism includes not just accusing the president of misleading the nation into war but also a jab at whether Mr. Bush knows or is leveling with voters about the current situation.

“Iraq is in crisis, and the president needs to live in the world of reality, not in a world of fantasy spin,” Mr. Kerry said in a subsequent speech last week, as he continued to hammer on his theme that Mr. Bush’s war plan cannot work and that a new president is needed to internationalize the effort.

The new tack is winning strong reviews from Democrats who had been waiting for their candidate to put a fine point on an argument that many of them have been making.

“I’m glad he did it,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat. “I thought his statement was excellent and very direct. Now, he will have to work hard to drive it home.”

Political strategists said the debates offer the perfect chance for that.

“I think he’s hitting his stride at a good time heading into Thursday’s debate,” said Chris Cooper, a Democratic strategist. He said Mr. Kerry has “focused his message and tightened it up.”

“On Thursday, there are going to be two people in that debate. One will be on the offensive, and the other will be on the defensive,” Mr. Cooper said. “Kerry will be on the offensive.”

Still, although public concerns about the United States getting bogged down in Iraq might be on the rise, the Bush campaign is convinced that Mr. Kerry’s shifting positions on the war will neutralize the issue.

Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman said yesterday the president will pound that message home at tomorrow night’s presidential debate and show the expected 50 million viewers that Mr. Bush can “provide clarity and resolve to this challenge.”

“There are difficulties in this war on terror and what is faced every day in the war in Iraq,” Mr. Mehlman told reporters in a conference call. “The question isn’t whether Iraq is an issue in this campaign. It is. The question is which leader is can best confront the war on terror. Right now, they trust the president on this, not John Kerry.”

Both campaigns find support in the polls.

By a slight margin, more voters are dissatisfied with the president’s policy in Iraq than are satisfied, and in the latest ABC News-Washington Post poll, 60 percent think the United States is “bogged down in Iraq.”

In that same poll, voters still give Mr. Bush a 13 percentage-point advantage over Mr. Kerry on who would do better job on Iraq, and a 17 percentage-point lead over Mr. Kerry on the war on terror.

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